I have been honoured to serve on CIRA's board of directors for the past 2 1/2 years. I am a Chartered Professional Accountant and Chartered Professional in Human Resources. I have used my training and experience to chair CIRA's Compensation and Review Committee and to serve on its Finance, Audit, Investment and Risk Committee and Community Investment Committee.

I am a previous board member of CIRA, for 3 years. I bring the perspectives of technology, networking, Internet, business, entrepreneur, cybersecurity.

I have spent the last 30 years working on bringing networking and cyber-security companies from inception to market, for Canada, for Global. This included running one (Sandvine) for more than 10 years as a TSX-traded public company.

I have participated in Internet governance including IETF and with regulators (CRTC, FCC, EU, BITAG).

Reliable and safe access to information via the internet is critical to Canadians.

Across this vast land, the ability to access and exchange knowledge and ideas underpin the very essence of a safe, educated and economically competitive society.

We know that during the pandemic, the dissemination of accurate information was an important instrument in our recovery.

During natural disasters amidst rapid climate change, access to information and updates can save lives.

CANDIDATE STATEMENT

Michael Zahra B.A.Sc., M.B.A., P.Log mzahra1@yahoo.ca

June 06, 2022

Dear CIRA Members,

I am applying to the Board of CIRA because of my passion for what CIRA does, my alignment with it's published Strategic and Corporate Plans, and the broad range of board and corporate experience I bring to the table.

Canada is on the precipice of change and building a trusted internet for Canadians as CIRA's path to 2025 provides a significant opportunity for our nation. With 20 years of experience straddling both business and technology, I have been able to deliver enterprise value from vision to execution which has served me well in my more recent Board and Advisory roles.

I want to make the world a better place. What gets me excited about my work, what really motivates me, is the idea that I can make a difference; that I can put my values into action and make some small bit of the world better.

For twenty years I've been finding and creating opportunities to do that. I started mucking around in the messy intersection of politics and technology in 2001 when I helped found the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. My career for the past decade has been focused on Internet governance and the Domain Name System (DNS).

My name is Iris Almeida-Côté. I reside in Québec, in a small town called Magog. I am proficient in French, English, Spanish and Hindi.

My C-Suite experience spans thirty-five years.

I offered leadership to Canada's unique organizations including, Partnership Africa Canada, the Parliamentary Centre for Rights and Democracy, the Canadian Pension and Benefits Institute, Canada World Youth, the Royal Society of Canada, the International Association for Public Participation and currently Founder and CEO of INNOVACONNECT inc.

I am excited to potentially join the board of directors of CIRA because as an entrepreneur and believer in the power of technology to change our society and world for the better I believe that CIRA has a critical role to play in creating a robust, resilient and innovative internet for all Canadians. I hope to bring my experience in helping to build a company that is focused on innovation and technology, and as a recognized leader in the field of HR to the CIRA board to further the organizations mission of building a trusted internet for all Canadians.

Hello CIRA members. Many of you already know me as your member representative on the CIRA board 2015-2018. I served on the Community Investment Evaluation Panel for five years and eventually co-chaired the Community Investment Committee.

Since that time, I have been participating in governance at the international level at ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. As the coordinator of the Internet's system of unique identifiers, ICANN's mission is to ensure the stable and secure operation of that system. 

It is with great enthusiasm that I submit my application to serve another term on CIRA's Board of Directors. As your elected member, I know that my experience and passion for the Internet will make me a valuable member of the Board.

To me, .ca is more than a "top level domain", it is Canada's brand on the Internet – a digital flag that shows the world the Canadian brand. I've proudly used a .ca domain for my personal website for the past fifteen years and I love the fact that it allows me to show the world I'm Canadian with just a dot and two letters.

Dr Mekki MacAulay is a former CIRA Community Investment Program (CIP) winner (2014) who has been a CIRA member for more than 15 years. He is a licensed computer systems engineer (PEng) and strategic management researcher and instructor (PhD) specializing in open strategies. He has extensive industry, government, and consulting experience, and has played an active role on both public and private boards of directors. He is bilingual and his expertise lies at the intersection of technology and business.

I, Riyad Mobeen, am excited to join CIRA as a Board Member to help bolster the .CA domain and services offered by CIRA – particularly the cybersecurity services. After being introduced to CIRA through a governance training program, I was excited to learn that CIRA is undergoing changes to the strategy in an effort to future-proof the relevancy and ultimate success of its platforms, programs, and initiatives.